This is Us

Absolutely nothing in this world happens without some kind of revelation. There is no invention, no cause taken up, no idea clung to, no movement of the stubborn human will without the inspired revelatory moment that we call a “vision.”

Vision is what sparks awe and wonder into human hearts. Vision is what motivates us to act and to create and to change the world around us. Vision is what every single hope for a better future hinges on.

I belong to the generation called Millenials, but I’m on the oldest cusp of that generation. Which means that I had a more analog upbringing than the later half of my generation. Computers were not a necessary component of my schooling… we had computers and utilized them, but it wasn’t until I was in later high school that writing papers using a word processor was even allowed, let alone required.

In the early 90s our classrooms did mostly have 1 to 2 computers in them, and all of them were useless, save for running 1 program: The Oregon Trail. These computers were made by a company called Apple and took on the very revolutionary name: The Apple 2. So exciting right? not.

Now I should mention that although my educational upbringing did not sink or swim based on the personal computer revolution, I had computers in my house from a very early age. My dad was part of the first wave of computer programmers once computers became a public commodity outside of the government. So when I was very young we had computers. We built computers together. And there was one overarching truth in our household that I would never forget. Apple computers were worthless.

Apple was at one time, in the 70s and 80s, the people who had a vision to put computers into people’s homes. And they were good at it when Apple computers were the only option. But once IBM and other companies, along with an operating system from Microsoft became avaliable, Apple began to fade into the background.

Apple’s largest problem was that their vision was too small. We want to put a computer in everyone’s home. Cool. But why. For what purpose? This lack of clarity would be their downfall, because it drove business practices that nearly sank the company for good.

Everything that an apple computer needed to function — including software — only worked with products that apple created. They refused to work with outside enterprises to bring affordable and attractive products to the people. They refused to cooperate with the world around them in order to embrace the needs of everyday human beings. And once Apple wasn’t the only choice for home computing, they sank like a rock.

Apple’s stock dropped 80% from 1992-1997 and the company was nearly bankrupt. Something needed to change. And as you know, something did change drastically.

Steve Jobs re-took the reigns as CEO and overhauled the entire company. He had a new vision which was “Make extremely cool products that are simple to use, easy to understand, and made with great aesthetics.”

And while this seems silly on the outside, the greatest complaint about computers and technology in general in the late 90’s and early 2000s was that computers and technology in general were not user friendly.

Then Jobs simplified the product lineup and encouraged the company to focus on innovating for the future. That future included collaboration with other companies and their software programs so that apple computers could give real people what they actually wanted and needed.

And people told him he was crazy. But he persisted and Apple created the iPod, a device that made the universe of music truly portable. Then Apple created the revolutionary iphone, and now half of us have an apple computer in our pockets. Next came the ipad, and now we have computers the size of a small stack of paper. A computer that I use to preach to you every sunday.

Apple now has a new vision: to make the best products on earth and to leave the world better than we found it.

simple. powerful. hope filled.

Thousands of years before the world was beginning to be shaped by the power of the personal computer, another set of humans sought to understand their world. 3 magi — early eastern scientists who studied the stars and their link to world events — were given a new revelation. A star had risen. There was a new king in Israel. The magi were not Jews, but they had studied enough of the Jewish scriptures to recognize that something new had happened in Bethlehem. And so they went, in search of this new king. But when they met with the current king, it became clear to them through another revelation that the current king meant harm to the Christ Child.

The 3 wise men as they’ve been named, became a model it would seem for the new way that God would act in human history. Divine revelation would come to people who you would be least likely to expect.

About 30 years later, after Jesus’s life and death, divine revelation came to another man. This time a devout Jew named Saul of Tarsus, who dedicated his life to eradicating the world of the vile stain of Jesus’s followers. On his way to persecute the early church in Damascus, he was struck with a vision from Christ himself — and given a new mission in life. He would bring the message of salvation to the world… particularly to Gentiles, non Jewish folks.

And he was the best there ever was at that mission. One of his churches, in a place called Ephesus, was a shining example of Paul’s work. He wrote them a letter in which he commends them for their unity. He tells them that when he found them he proclaimed the gospel to them all, without discrimination. And the result was that that people of many different backgrounds came together and formed a community based on one commonality: The Lordship of Jesus Christ. Then he says these words:

Ephesians 3:1–12 NRSV

This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

Paul understood his assignment, and that allowed him to teach it and to recognize its effectiveness. God’s vision to Paul: bring the news of and the invitation to the Kingdom of God to the Gentiles. To all people.

Not just to Jews. Not just to greeks and romans who look like they might want to hear it. Not to people who come asking. To all people. This was the original mission and vision of the church. Jesus said to his disciples: Go and make disciples of all nations — baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

All nations. All people.

Listen. In the western world the church was once very very influential. It was automatic in a lot of ways. Remember that Christianity did not start as a Western religion. Christianity was a sect within an eastern religion — Judaism.

But Eventually Christianity became the state religion of Rome, and the influence of Rome was vast and ever expanding. The church’s vision got really easily caught up in Rome’s vision — which was to make everyone in the world a subject of Rome.

But long after the collapse of the Roman Empire, the church persisted, with a simple vision. Bring christianity into every home in the world. And along with that came a lot of really bad tactics. But also along with that came some very good things. Like fair governing practices and hospitals and orphanages and things that helped the people. And eventually the printing press was invented and it became the vision of the church to put bibles in every home.

And that was really the extent of the vision needed. It worked. Until it stopped working. Until new and competing ideas became prevalent. And what we are seeing now is that the old vision just can’t compete on its own with everything else this world is offering. Just put Jesus in every home is wonderful, but we’ve got to have more strategy than that.

Over the summer and into the early fall a team of people here developed a new strategic plan for First Church. We crafted new mission, vision, and values statements that will drive us to actually fulfill that age old vision of putting Jesus in every home.

Our mission is simple: Flooding the treasure coast with the transformational love of Jesus.

That means that what we do is we indiscriminately (think of how a flood works) spread the love of Jesus through loving acts of mercy and justice to world inside and outside of the church.

The way that we do that is by embracing these 5 values that we have identified as who we are:

Passionate worship

Faithful Development

Extravagant Generosity

Missional Outreach

Unwavering Inclusivity

(we’ll talk more about each of those over the next 5 weeks)

And here’s the vision. Here is how we accomplish a mission of Flooding the treasure coast with the transformational love of Jesus:

Our vision is this: We will create, equip, and mobilize 610 Disciples by the year 2030 so that heaven and earth collide on the treasure coast.

That’s 6 years. To do something enormous. 610 disciples. Why 610? Well because Matthew 6:10 says

Matthew 6:10 NRSV

Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

That’s our vision. Heaven and Earth colliding. God’s will being done in Fort Pierce and Beyond. I want us to be so good at being the church that people from the top of Indian River County to the bottom of Martin county know about Fort Pierce as being the center of a world changing revival. That here, in the heart of the treasure coast, the place once famous for being the cocaine capital of Florida, we are famous for something else. For being the epicenter of a new vision of Christianity in these parts.

Apple’s vision, which in turn sparked a technological revolution that changed every single person’s relationship to technology had 3 key components that I think speak into how we are going to do this: Simple to use - easy to understand - aesthetically pleasing.

That’s what we are trying to do. We are trying to make the Bible, the Christian faith, and the life of discipleship Simple to use and easy to understand so that anyone, literally anyone can learn more, encounter a life changing relationship with Jesus, and grow closer to God. And when we say aesthetically pleasing I mean most importantly that the fruit of our labor, our discipleship, our love is something that people look at and say “wow. I’ve never seen anything this beautiful in my life.”

This is a vision. This is an impossible task. Without God. And impossible tasks don’t mean we don’t do them. Impossible tasks mean that we pour our effort into the natural work that we CAN do, and then we wait in hopeful expectation for the supernatural work that we know that God WILL do.

610 Disciples. Say it with me.

(screens) We will create, equip, and mobilize 610 disciples by 2030 so that heaven and earth collide on the Treasure Coast.

Wanna know how? good. Stay tuned.